


Dream Hopping

by Caoten



Category: Homestuck
Genre: (Minor pairing) Rose Lalonde/Aradia Megido, (if you want the fluff without the smut and violence. the first 3 chapters are safe to read), Angst, Cheating, Dream Bubbles, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, God tier swap, M/M, Minor characters: Rose. Aradia. Vriska. Terezi. Karkat., Pesterlog, Porn With Plot, Romantic Fluff, Smut, Witch of Doom Jade Harley, kin memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-12-03 00:49:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11521047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caoten/pseuds/Caoten
Summary: Three years is a long time, especially to be stuck on a meteor soaring through space and time. Granted, the people are nice, and there is a lot of exploration to do, but you can only do that for so long. What really is the pinnacle of entertainment for the survivors of the SBURB and SGRUB games is dream bubble visiting. Once in a while, the meteor passes through a cluster of a collection of the travelers' memories.Two of the most frequent dream hoppers are Dave Strider and Jade Harley, who have made a habit of going on daily adventures and romantic dates in the vastness of the dream world. We all have secrets that we wish for no one to ever see though, and that is true for them too. But both visiting paradises and risking revealing your deepest hidden secrets is part of the thrill, isn't it?





	1. Two Beating Summer Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An excited Jade and a Dave trying to play it cool run to the chance of getting to visit Jade's home, the tropical island far out in the Pacific Ocean; to delight in the sun, and maybe share a few secrets?
> 
> Content Warnings: mild unreality.

“Come on, babe! Hurry!” she was pulling me by the arm, her excitement apparent to even the blindest fucking mole.

I let her drag me with her. Of course, these excursions of ours were solidly up on the top-three list of  “Best Things to Do on This Goddamn Meteor” for me too, but I just couldn’t help myself from letting her tug at my hand. If playing reluctant and acting apathetic to the situation was what it would take to see her frustrated grin puff up her cheeks, then so be it. At least that’s how I had played it so far.

“Okay, okay! I’m coming! See? I’m right here behind you, dude!” I grunted out a laugh - warmly I think - and her angelic fucking giggle chimed in. It was in moments like these that it was the easiest to forget everything. Everything that had happened to us, and everything that we had done.  “Wow, Jade… Is there something special that we just, _have_ to see today?” I could barely keep up with her fast tap-tap-tap steps over the grey concrete-esque floor, despite being almost two heads taller than her.

She blushed. Not an embarrassed blush, but a blush full of excitement that made her dark eyes glitter and her freckles appear even clearer on her cheeks. God, I loved this girl… She let go of my hand and put her hands on her waist in a theatrically teasing pose.

“Yeah duh, Dave!” she threw with her hair, her curly locks bouncing off of her shoulders, and tilted her chin in pretended defiance. “It’s passing by again! The bubble with my home, it’s coming by right now, today! At the front of this rock thing!” she grabbed my hand again, harder this time. It was warm, and still a little sticky from holding onto my hand for so long earlier, but I didn’t mind. I guess it was half of my stick anyway. No wait, not stick. Stickiness? No, that sounds disgusti- She pulled me out of my thoughts and admiration of how incredibly soft she was. “Come on now! We’re gonna miss it!”

 

* * *

 

 

It was amazing, that I could admit. If anyone asked me about what we were currently watching, I would probably say: “Yea it was pretty dope, to be fucking honest. Might even call it amazing.” Admitting it to being one of the most breathtaking views I had seen though, that, I probably would not do. Most breathtaking views I had seen since yesterday at least, when we had also been waiting for some sick bubble hopping. You never really got tired of it though.

“Ready?” she smiled. In that moment, like every night, i stopped breathing. Lights were violently flashing across the sky. Like a broken mirror, neon strings were webbing themselves through the void. Despite its terrifying nature, it was oddly soothing. Jade’s eyes had captured all those lights within them, and her gaze shot straight through me. I still don’t know if it was somehow related to her new god tier powers, or just the fact that she was so deeply beautiful, but when she looked at me out here I felt comfortingly filled up with void and warmth. I then saw the bright blue bubble approach us closely behind her, the one she wanted us to get on, and I nodded subtly.

“Good!” she shouted happily, and giggling she pulled us in through the thick soap bubble-like wall.

The second time that day I stopped breathing: Check. This time, however, it wasn’t because of the sheer beauty of my girl. Rather, it was because of the nature of the dream bubbles. Not only were they, quite literally, bubbles. Getting a mouthful of soapy dream liquid stuffed into all your visible orifices wasn’t exactly a pleasurable experience. Unless you’re into that sorta thing. Then I guess it’s a fucking dream come true. Second of all, I had a creeping feeling that neither humans, nor trolls, were ever supposed to be close to these loopholes in nature. Just another natural order the game had taken from us. Or made us take from ourselves? Anyway, entering one of the notorious fish troll’s dream bubbles was, to say the least, a mentally unpleasant experience.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun played over the pond. Her hand was warm in mine, and just a little wet after swimming. Everything was so calm. I guess that was just the effect she had on me - infinite calm. I slowly rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand, and she leaned her head onto my shoulder. Something akin to a hiccup went through my body. My heart accelerated, but only for a brief moment, until my brain was able to adjust to the notion that I really _did_ have such a beautiful girl next to me.

“It’s nice here…” she mumbled, trailing off. I didn’t pay much attention, just followed the movement of her body. She was splashing lightly with her toes in the pond water, creating water circles that soaked into the legs of my pants. I noticed that, while I was sitting ankle deep in the water, her toes barely touched the surface. She was so fucking small. I snorted.

“What?” she said, blushing faintly because of the heat.

“Nothin’.” I adjusted my position to sit more comfortable on the - a little too hard -  wooden bridge.

“No, come on!” she teased. “What is it?”

Instead of answering, I grabbed her by the waist and tried to pull her onto my lap. That was something that I might have been able to pull off if it had not been for the weird angle we were sitting in or that she was not at all prepared for being lifted up or that these damn pajamas were so fucking silky-. Or how close we were sitting to the water.

“Dave _Strider_!” she shrieked, obviously upset. She was completely soaked. We both were. Her hair was filled with tiny, tiny water droplets, making it shimmer in the near tropical sunlight. That was what I noticed first. Then I noticed her puffed up cheeks and furrowed brow.

“Oops,” I said with a theatrically apologetic grin.

“You asshole!” she splashed water at me angrily, but with a badly hidden smile showing in the corners of her mouth and in her gleaming, dark eyes.

I grabbed her again and pulled her closer and closer to me through the clear water. I had never really been one for physical affection. I guess I never really knew how to express it - or appreciate it, for that matter. But it is like they say, once you’ve tried something, you just want more of it. I was always surprised by how rough her lips were. Not dry, not with that metallic taste that only comes from blood under too thin cracking skin. Not forceful either. No, they were more like the skin on the inside of hands. Hands after training, getting rough by gripping the hilt of a sword. They were rough, roughed up. I pushed deeper into the kiss, and pressed myself against her, hugging her waist tightly.

After a while, she pulled away, slowly opening her eyes hidden behind her eyelashes. She smiled happily, shyly, as though we had just shared a secret that only we knew. In a way, I guess we had. Then she furrowed her brow, and I could see how something clicked. She opened her mouth, betrayed.

“Hey!” she shouted, and playfully hit me over the head. “Don’t be cute!”

I chuckled, playing along and protected my head with my arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! For real, babe.”

She grinned at me one last time, showcasing her unfairly beautiful teeth, and then threw herself back down into the warm water.

Watching her swim around in the water and diving under lily pads, I laughed, genuinely. This island was so beautiful, the grass seemed greener, the sky so blue, just a few clouds floating around. This must be the feeling those happy women doing yoga or jogging their white dogs in Google stock image photos are feeling. I took a deep breath, I felt so, so calm… tranquil? A feeling of fulfillment I had never really felt before.

But something didn’t feel right. Why did this soothing happiness feel so wrong? It didn’t belong in my body… What year was it? The time wasn’t right for the size of my body, and this happiness wasn’t right for this time in _my_ life. Nothing fitted as it should.

Then it hit me. The sky wrapped in on itself, folding itself up into neat wrinkles from each horizon. Bending, pulling, squeezing. Jade didn’t seem to have noticed, not yet at least. I felt nauseous, as bright lights started to flash and it felt like the ground was making _me_ shake, rather than itself. I could see sounds, taste colours, hear smells. Then, the ground disappeared.

Jade fell onto the hard grey ground with a light “thud”, next to where I had fallen, presumably having tried to dive in the non-existent pond as it disappeared from underneath of us.

“Dave…” she groaned, and clumsily shuffled up from the ground. She reached out a hand and helped drag me up to a standing position. Looking into her face, I could see that she was clearly disappointed. But she didn’t blame me for the dream bubble’s collapse. “Did you _really_ have to realise it wasn’t real so fast?” she whined, but with a barely noticable teasing tone in her voice.

I shrugged an apology in response, and instead of saying anything more on the subject, I reached out my arm for her to take. “Wanna try another bubble instead?”

She smiled lovingly at me, a warm smile, and took my arm. “I would love that.”


	2. Teasing When Teasing is Due

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Jade enter their second bubble on their dream-hopping adventure of that day. This time. however, it's not Dave who becomes aware of the reality of the bubble first. This bubble has already been visited and inhabited by others, and the two of them meet distant and very close friends alike.
> 
> Content Warnings: mild unreality, mild description of body horror because of unreality.

She placed a small hand on my shoulder. The sensation felt familiar for some reason, like it was part of a role we both had to play for this to work. For what to work? I frowned.

“Keep on breathing, babe,” she whispered next to me into my shoulder. “Don’t let it notice us, okay?”

I tensed up but nodded. Instinctively _I_ knew that _she_ knew what she was doing. Of course she did. She was my very smart and collected girlfriend after all, she always knew how to handle these situations. I wasn’t entirely sure what the situation was though, and as the doubt and confusion spread through my limbs like the frost in a bad-quality apocalyptic movie about eternal winter or some shit, the edges of my field of vision started to tremble.

“Babe, focus okay!” she  breathed sharply. “Take it easy now… but this isn’t actually, real.” She rubbed my back in slow, slow circles, trying to soothe my nervous system as my thoughts raced trying to adjust to the situation of our reality. She continued, “You remember the dream bubbles. We visit them regularly. This is one of them, and we _do not want it to break_.”

Violently bright lights flashed over the world as though a filtre had been put over my brain, but they weren’t actually there. We weren’t actually here. I closed my eyes behind my shades, and inhaled deeply. And they were gone.

I opened my eyes and turned to smile at Jade.

“Better?” she smiled.

“Why’re you always so much better than me at keeping your cool? Hell, keeping _our_ cool?” i complained, not annoyed at all. Quite the opposite, actually. I looked around. Double-hell, how could anyone be annoyed when the girl of your dreams had saved you from being violently pulled away from a place like _this_?

Wherever I looked, there were white dunes of sand, shielded by a completely clear blue sky. Sea shells of vastly different designs were scattered all over the warm summer beach, and I could hear the faint sound of birds chirping in the palm trees nearby. A couple of blue-tainted seagulls were tapping some sealed oyster shells against a rock a few feet away. I inhaled once again; and first now, after this new reality had stabilised itself, did I register the scents of the ocean scenery. It was incredibly hot, but hot in the same way as it is in the places of the world where it is always hot. That heat does not invoke anxiety of bad smell or the look of shiny foreheads, for everyone is a pile of stinking flesh and fabric anyway. The humid air made my nostrils shiver, and the taste of salt and fish filled my mouth. I turned to my girlfriend.

“Jade, where’d you say we’re at-? I stopped before properly indicating an end to my question. Jade was no longer beside me. I twirled around a bit faster that I would like to admit, the anxiety building up in my stomach rising to my chest, at the same time as my mind dropped three storeys down into my belly making my knees just a little bit shaky. I didn’t even want to _think_ about the last time we had lost each other in the bubbles.

Then I heard her clear, bubbling laughter. I exhaled in relief, and started making my way over the sand towards the place where I had heard her voice.

Finally making my way over the hill that had originally hidden her from my sight, I saw that she wasn’t alone. Together with her were four other girls. More specifically it was the three troll girls Terezi, Vriska, and Aradia, as well as my sister Rose. Human sister Rose.

I sauntered over to where they were all standing laughing, trying to carry myself like I hadn’t just majorly freaked out over such a minor thing as being alone. I grinned confidently and put an arm over Jade’s shoulder.

“Hi, baby,” I said and kissed her cheek, before remembering who it actually was in front of me. Trying to play everything cool and excessively self-confident around acquaintances was something I did reflexively without even noticing, but they weren’t all acquaintances…

“Oh my god!” Rose gasped, in pretended shock. “Jade, why did you not tell me that you are having non-platonic relations with my brother by blood!?”

“I-” Jade began.

“Oh dear lord,” Vriska chimed in, mischief gleaming in her serpent-looking eyes. “Rose, is this what you have told us about?” She continued on, whispering. “Is this what you humans would refer to as, ‘ _heterosexuality’_?” She grinned.

I rolled my eyes, which I realised looked way less dramatic than I intended since my eyes were covered by my sunglasses. Rose nodded in concern, furrowing her brow. “Yes, my dear friend Vriska, it appears that that is indeed the situation at hand.” She was barely able to hide her smirk.

Both Vriska and Terezi gasped in pretended horror.

At last I lost my patience. “Oh, come on!” I exclaimed. “Why d’y’all always gotta do this? You don’t see me teasin’ you and Aradia whenever we’re all in the same room!”

Vriska and Rose shared a look of pity, before looking back at me with so well-faked concern that I almost flinched. Rose sighed. “It’s different, Dave.”

“Yeah,” Vriska agreed, shaking her head slowly. “They’re lesbians, Strider.”

“God to _fuck!_ ” I threw my arms in the air and turned around on my heels. “I give up!” I shouted over my shoulder. I heard them all break out into laughter, and to my dismay I could hear Jade’s clear pearly giggle amidst the others’.

A bit later though, Jade caught up with me and caringly linked our hands together. I looked away but couldn’t help but to smile. Of course I wasn’t actually upset, it was all just part of the roles we had to play here on the ship. We had upheld them for this long, and the order hadn’t been disturbed yet, so I thought it would be best to continue playing my stoic and nonplussed role. I felt Jade tighten her grip around my hand, wanting me to direct my attention to her person.

She swung our hands a little bit before speaking. “I know it doesn’t actually bother you.”

I stopped.

“...But maybe we should call it a day and go back to the ship, anyway?” she continued and smiled that amazing and irresistible smile that always made me go mad.

“Yea.”

She nodded in acknowledgment of my answer and closed her eyes.

Suddenly I felt my internal organs leave my body, only to reappear just in front of me in time. For just a moment I could see my recently external-turned internal organs wobble a bit in the glitching purple vapour surrounding my body, and then I could feel Jade’s fingers in mine again. Just as suddenly as I had been quite literally turned inside-out, everything was back to normal, and we were both lying panting on the hard grey floor of the ship.

I felt as though I was about to hurl.

Jade on the other hand just stood up and blew on her hands to clean them from the dust and particles they had gathered from the ground. She looked down on me and laughed her flowing laughter, and gave me her hand. “Sorry about that,” she said, and pulled me to my feet.

“Oh, for what? Tearing my body apart and rearranging it in probably the wrong order?” I whined, but straightened myself up and brushed myself off.

She gave me a quizzical look, but grabbed me by the hand and turned around. “At least I didn’t break the bubble five minutes after entering,” she sing-songed.

“Hey!”

She laughed. “Wanna go find someone? Wanna go see John?”

My heart painfully struck me over the ribs, before settling into its normal rhythm again. I was careful not to stammer or gulp. “Sure. Haven’t seen the bro in eons, probably,” I said with a controlled voice, hoping it didn’t it sound strained. It was very strained.

She patted me on the cheek. “Love that!” she said and started to lead me back into the living, housing, and leisure compartments of the ship.

 

* * *

 

When we found him he was busy throwing darts at a rug he had put up on one of the walls in the communal living room. When we had first arrived at the ship he had realised that the walls were too hard and compact for the tiny spears to actually stuck, so he had almost immediately gone on a hunt for something to put up on the wall. I had told him many times that it was very mafioso of him to be so good at dart, and that I hoped he didn’t have any posters of me lying around. He had laughed, and thrown one of the darts, with precision great enough to successfully hit the field for the highest score on the rug on the wall. Every damn time. Every time I said it, he laughed the same way, and then hit the high score on that damn rug. Of course he lived for that kind of dramatic effect, as the fucking film buff he was.

Jade called out to him. “John!” she ran up to him and as he had barely turn around to see where the shout had come from, she threw herself into his arms, giggling. He wheezed as the air was knocked out of him, but quickly recovered from the impact. She was very little, after all.

I walked up to him. “So how’re the darts working out for you, Jonyboy?”

He shot me a wide smile, and my heart started racing again. I started sweating profusely, and gulped nervously. I really hoped that the cause of it was that there was some dangerous inheritable heart disease Bro hadn’t told me about, and that it wasn’t what I knew it to actually be.

“Your taste in media sucks, Dave.” he said, and let Jade back onto the floor,

I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. I was at a complete loss of words. John looked into my eyes; first confusion, but then a mixture of knowing and amusement. Damn, I really had to say _something_ , this all probably looked really weird.

My voice trembled. “Y-you fucking watch chick-flicks daily.” I gulped.

He pushed some of his hair back, and I quickly reached out and grabbed Jade by the arm and pulled her into a an embrace, pressing her body against mine. This way she wouldn’t be able to see my face. _God…_

John slightly raised an eyebrow - Fuck! I was so weak! Fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ \- but then he finally put some restraints on himself.

“Maybe we should watch some movies together soon, dude.” he said. “Maybe I could learn you a thing or two, Dave.”

I laughed nervously, desperately trying to collect myself.

“...About movies” he continued.

I laughed again. _Shit how should I save this situation?_ “I’m probably beyond help...bro.” I said, pulling off a smirk and the sarcasm-heavy tone I often fell back to as successfully as possible under the circumstances.

“Don’t say that!” Jade laughed, apparently unaware of the situation at hand. “You know what?” she continued, happily. “I don’t think we have spent as much time together the past weeks as we used to.”

 _Yeah, wonder why that could be_ , I snarled in my mind. How did I end up in this situation?

“We should really have that movie night together! All three of us!”

John laughed. “Yeah, totally! We totally should, Jade. Sometime soon.” He locked eyes with me, something burning within them.

For the third time, I gulped.


	3. At the Dawn of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave finds himself in an all too familiar situation. It is a new day and the duo is once again partaking in dream hopping. This time, the two of them find themselves at the beginning of it all, at the dawn of their relationship. They both land with a 'thud!' in Dave's old apartment, just as Dave jr. and Jade jr. are having their very first online conversation.

“Dave!” she squealed, her pitch high in delight. “Do you remember this?”

I looked around. Of course I did. Of course I fucking did. The lights were dim and a distant buzzing sound from the once familiar fridge made itself present. My old apartment.  _ Our _ old apartment, I assumed, but I tried to not dwell on thoughts like that for too long anymore. When trying to shake off the intrusive thoughts racing through my brain, I realised how tense I had gotten, and that since entering the room, I had not taken a single breath. Nowadays I knew the reason behind it, but I didn’t want to remember my childhood years like that. Finally, I relaxed my posture, although my mind was still alert, and studied the room once more.

It looked exactly the same as it had back then. The computer desk, the bed at the window, the tilted ceiling, the discjockey table. It was all so familiar, it felt like I had never even left. Strewn across the floor were countless issues of different comic books, various brands of trash, as well as some of Bro’s felt puppets. I picked one up.

“Hey Jade-” I began, but she hushed me with a quick slap on the shoulder.

“Sssh,” she smiled, and pointed towards the far end of the room, where my old computer desk stood.

A young boy was sitting at it, blond hair and too big clothes. He was staring into the computer screen; sitting like an owl in his chair, leaning way too close into the electronic light. Once in awhile he typed something out on the keyboard, his small fingers slowly and full of uncertainty making their way across the keys. I knew why that was. I had never really gone to school, and Bro had never seemed interested in teaching me how to read - or write.

Jade crept up behind me. “So…” she began.

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see my face. “Yeah,” i breathed out. I knew what she was thinking. Dave Strider’s stoic online persona, caused by an inability to write long sentences. “The rumour’s out,” I mumbled, and walked closer to the computer, and my younger self. Thankfully my illiteracy would become better with the years following, but _ God _ , was I thankful that no one had ever found out back then. I couldn’t have been that much older than eight or nine here.

Jade followed. We both peered over my younger self’s shoulder, and thankfully this dream bubble did not seem to follow the normal pattern of the rule of being able to interact with the past. Now, we were mere spectators.

Jade gasped, putting her hand to her mouth in disbelief. “This is from the first! The first time we talked!” she exclaimed. “It is isn’t it?”

I didn’t answer, but she was right. A normal day, so long ago, we had just so happened to have been online at the same time on the same forum, commenting in the same thread. And now we were here, the world gone, dashing through space. Together.

The screen was lit up bright, multiple windows open and active; my old web page, an old game that I had found on an old disc in a drawer somewhere, a few tabs of old-school hip hop playing (simultaneously), four tabs reading ‘ _ 404 - Not Found’ _ , as well as a video of rapping sesame street puppets. I couldn’t remember which tabs I had considered to be totally ironic and which had been my jam back then. Young me kept flipping between the windows, but always keeping the chat client with Jade open.

It felt like a breach of privacy to read these pesterlogs, like the conversation no longer belonged to us. Maybe it would be better to keep these things in the past, a past I had promised myself so many times to never think about again.

“Aw, we were so cute!” Jade laughed, grinning into the screen. “What happened?”

Okay, she was already reading them. I sighed,  and leaned further over my own shoulder. The weirdness of the situation didn’t even bother me, not after all the trips we had already taken together.  _ Fuck it _ , I thought, and started reading.

 

* * *

 

 

**\-- gardenGnostic** **[GG]** **began pestering turntechGodhead** **[TG]** **at 14:54 --**

 

**GG: hi!! :D**

**GG: fancy meeting you here fellow interneter!!!! !! :DD**

**GG: whats up!**

**GG: hello?? :O is this thing on?**

**GG: hello????**

**TG: hey**

**GG: hey!!!!!!!!**

**TG: lol**

**TG: just chillin**

**GG: fun!!! im at home too! i just finished putting my plants in bigger pots!**

**GG: and talking to you! too!!**

**TG: sweet**

**TG: yea**

**TG: me too**

**GG: i know that hahaha!**

**GG: so**

**GG: whats your favorite song? :D**

**GG: mines lucky!**

**TG: haha yea**

**TG: poison is good**

**GG: :O ??**

**GG: do you mean toxic? :O**

**TG: its the best**

**TG: thats what i said**

**GG: no you didnt!**

**TG: i did**

**GG: :?**

**GG: okay**

**GG: anyway! I love her so much!!! all her songs are so amazing and her hair is really really pretty! blonde looks so good but i love my hair too!**

**GG: what hair color do you have? :D**

**GG: i got so happy when i saw theres someone else who loves her music and her! :D when did you start listening to britney?**

**TG: blonde**

**GG: ive listened to her forever!!!! i found her music in my house!! in a super dusty drawer :P**

**TG: lol**

**GG: what do you think about boys? :D**

**TG: since i was born lol**

**TG: what**

**GG: its not so happy like my favorites but i think its really good anyway!**

**TG: im a boy**

**GG: what? :?**

**GG: :O ive never met a boy who likes britney spears! thats so cool :D**

**TG: what do YOU think of boys**

**GG: i already told you! :P**

**GG: its a good song but maybe not one of my favorites! :)**

**GG: her voice is so cool**

**GG: but i dont like the man singing in it! :P**

**TG: oh**

**TG: a song**

**TG: song boys**

**TG: yea**

**TG: i love it**

**TG: the beat is**

**TG: dope**

**GG: hahaha!! you talk weird tg!**

**GG: wait whats your name? :o**

**TG: dave**

**GG: dave!!!! mines jade :D**

**TG: haha**

**GG: nice to meet you dave!!!! :DD**

**GG: well! I have to go now! :( my dog wants some food**

**GG: i think?**

**GG: his name is bec and hes white and super beautiful!**

**GG: so i have to go!! :(**

**TG: nice**

**GG: talk to you later dave!! :D**

**TG: dogs are cool**

 

**\-- gardenGnostic** **[GG]** **ceased pestering turntechGodhead** **[TG]** **at 15:21 --**

 

**TG: bye jade**

 

**\-- turntechGodhead** **[TG]** **ceased pestering gardenGnostic** **[GG]** **at 15:24 --**

 

* * *

 

 

The boy (the me) before us had just been staring at the screen those last minutes after Jade har left the chat room. Then he sank deeper into his chair and crossed his arms. His unkempt hair kept falling into his eyes, and he blew it away repeatedly, but seemed determined not to move.

He was hard to read - I had always been like that, I knew that - but I knew exactly what was going through his mind. I had just been surfing around the Internet when i had stumbled upon a thread of die-hard Britney Spears fans. I had laughed at it and then left a comment for them all to see.  _ “i love bs shes the fucking best” _ . I had felt so smug about it, the ultimate troll. I was the master of deception, of irony, of lying on the internet. Booyah, I rocked. Then, someone had replied to my comment. We had exchanged chumhandles and one thing had lead to another. And now we were standing here, next to each other, thousands and thousands miles away from our home.

“How long did you even keep that up for?”

I flinched, and spun around. It was only Jade. I really had to stop getting lost in my thoughts - the time I had been away from the apartment had made me soft.

“Keep what up?”

“Pretending to like Britney Spears, silly.”

“What do you mean? I love Brittany!”

She laughed and playfully punched my arm. “Dave!”

“She slays, babe.”

She laughed and turned around. I followed her with my eyes as she walked around, investigating my old boy’s room. I always got nervous when someone was poking around in my personal things - in my private life in general, honestly - but I tried to trust Jade. Just as my brain formulated that thought it felt like a spear pierced my heart but I pushed the guilt away. I just hoped she hadn’t noticed. Thankfully she was busy pulling out my old discs from my bookshelf - if you now could call a piece of furniture completely empty of books a bookshelf.

I really didn’t like being back here, but if my memory served me right Bro had not come into room after the first conversation I ever had with Jade. I had been sitting there for hours in my chair, turning and bending everything I had said and had tried to say in every imaginable direction and way. And surely, there I was, still sitting in my chair, solemnly ruffling my hair at regular intervals.

I turned away from my younger self, I didn’t feel like dwelling on that entire deal for too long. I kicked some smuppets to hide them behind a few boxes, before Jade noticed them and started to ask questions. Questions I did not know the answer to as a child, but now did - but wished I didn’t. When I felt content with the entire floor situation, I too started ruffling through my old belongings.

We spent a few minutes, maybe half an hour, like that. Silently reading through old comic books and torn out journal pages, smiling at my bad drawings, and avoiding to mention the food stashes hidden around the room. Once in awhile we called out to the other, holding up something funny or sweet, cracking jokes and giggling. We didn’t both participate in all those activities - Jade was the one engaging in most of them, actually.

After a while I pulled out a small, but bulging, spiral notebook. The pages were thick from glue and paper and I instantly knew what it was. I opened it and it naturally opened to the middlest page. It was John’s scrapbook. I hadn’t thought about it in forever. He had been really secretive and coy about it, for months on end. He would ask me for pictures of my hometown and of myself, as well as any things I liked. One day it had arrived in the mail, tidily bound with a bow and everything. It was a collection of our friendship, the best moments and loads and loads of quotes from late-night conversations. I remembered that I had thought that it should have taken  _ years  _ to finish the damn thing. I had been so fucking happy I had felt like breaking down crying right there and then when I had opened it, but in the end I had barely even thanked him properly. If I remembered correctly I had typed out a message the equivalent of nodding to your bro in the locker room when he hands you a protein bar in a strictly dude-ish manner. I rolled my eyes to myself behind my shades. I had never played sports.

Even though that book had made me so happy back in the day, now it only made me feel bad. Bad for John, bad for myself, and especially bad for Jade. The guilt pulled at my gut like a hook, as I kept flipping through the pages of the book. I wanted to stop, and just put the book back where I had found it and pretend nothing had happened, but I couldn’t. Something made me keep flipping through the rough pages, and for every photograph of a smiling John or a faked collage of us holding hands, the hook pulled harder. A few minutes passed like that, until I felt like throwing up, like fainting. The hook must have barbs, I thought, as my body gave up completely.

I could hear Jade shout something, but I couldn’t at all comprehend what she was saying. Then, I felt the familiar feeling of being pulled back through space and time.

_ Fuck. _

 

* * *

 

 

I woke up on the cold hard concrete floor, dizzy and with blurred vision. Jade was hovering over me, with a worried expression on her face.

“Dave? Oh goodness, I think he’s waking up! Dave! Can you hear me?”

I groaned, but nodded lazily. I was still light-headed, but started to collect my limbs to sit up. A firm hand grabbed mine and pulled me up on my feet. Apparently Jade wasn’t the only one who had witnessed me embarrassing myself.

It was John.

“Oh god…” I said meekly, and tried to get away from the entire situation.

“What happened, babe?” Jade exclaimed with a worried voice.

I looked at John and he met my eyes, and I quickly turned them back to Jade.

“I guess… I guess I forgot what was real. The bubbles become really unstable when you forget what is reality and what is not.” Bullshit. What a fucking liar.

“Mm,” she agreed, and crossed her arms as if in deep, concerned thought. She looked so cute it hurt every part of my conscience. Of course I hadn’t forgotten we were dream hopping, my past self had literally been sitting right there beside me. I had lost focus, and I had lost focus because of John. Seeing his face, remembering all the times since we met so many years ago… it had made me think of him, the real him, back here on the meteor. It had made me think of what we had done. What we were sure to do again. That was what had pulled me away from the past memory. Blood rushed to my face and ears, but I was determined to keep a straight face.

“Maybe we should all go and rest,” Rose suggested out of nowhere. I swung around to look at her, standing behind me with an arm around Aradia’s shoulder.  _ Was fucking everyone here?! _

“Yeah,” Jade agreed, still looking deeply concerned. “Can you make it back to your room by yourself?” she asked me, biting her lip.

“I’ll walk him to his room,” John volunteered.

Jade immediately lit up. “Oh , good!” she exclaimed. “Thank you, John!”

He nodded, and as everyone scurried off, he put his arm over my shoulders.

“You coming?” he mumbled into my ear.

I wheezed out an inaudible answer, and stumbled after him, blushing almost violently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't read homestuck in two years and I have never listened to Britney Spears. But she slams.


	4. The Two Kissers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave finds himself mortified, standing forced to stare as his worst nightmare unfolds in front of himself and his girlfriend Jade Harley. Dream hopping had always seemed to be worth the risk, but he wasn't so sure anymore.
> 
> Content Warnings: NSFW, cheating.

The air was heavy. The silence draped itself around the two of us, refusing to let any of us move as much as a single finger even an inch. We both looked on in horror at the scene unfolding in front of us, but for very different reasons. Trying out a new dream bubble at random had seemed like such a good idea until we ended up... well,  _ here _ . Of all the places…

It was John and I. Past us. This timeline past us, the real timeline past us. Now, in the past. When Jade and I had finished stabilising the dream bubble, we had already gotten on top of the bed. John had pushed me onto it, our breaths heavy from the deep kiss connecting the two of us. With fumbling, but determined fingers, he had started unbuttoning my pants after removing his own clothes, and I had laughed an excited, breathy laugh.

I could remember it all in perfect detail, and now seeing it in real time from a second person’s perspective, it just felt wrong. Like I was intruding on myself, partaking in something private that was for my eyes only. I was so cold.

The sound of wet lips against skin aroused from the bed. John was moving his mouth over my chest - now free of the shirt I had been wearing a moment earlier - kissing, sucking, biting; leaving my old strifing scars love marks as company. A gasping moan escaped my lips, and the embarrassment was twofold. John smiled and silenced me with a kiss, gagging me on his tongue. He wasn’t an amazing kisser, but I couldn’t help finding it unbelievably hot.

He parted from the kiss, and shuffled down, ghosting his nose and mouth over my chest and stomach. I shivered. He started tugging at my underwear -  the last garment on my body - pulling them down over my hips and sliding them off my legs. I huffed inpatiently and bucked my hips upwards, my erection already growing.

John smiled at the me on the bed, I couldn’t see his face from where I was standing, but I remembered that he had. He mindlessly started massaging the insides of my thighs, teasingly close to my opening and aching cock. He locked eyes with me - sprawled out on the bed, eyes begging for his touch - kissed my knee gently, and reached over to a drawer next to his bed to grab a bottle of lube and a condom. When he returned he leaned in close to me again and kissed me.

“It’s okay?” he asked, staring into my eyes. I didn’t know when I had removed (or lost) my shades, I couldn’t remember. But my eyes were visible for anyone to see and my entire being was exposed to my so longtime friend towering over my naked body.

“Yeah,” I said weakly, the end of the syllable shivering as I once again felt his cold fingers giving my body the attention I craved so badly. With my given permission, he started applying some of the cream white lube to his fingers.

A high yelp escaped me when he inserted the first finger. He stopped for a moment, but when he felt my muscles relaxing he started moving it around inside of me. It was such an odd feeling, It hadn’t my first time, but it always made me feel so much closer to him - being connected in this way. He inserted a second finger, and massaged me from the inside in a scissoring motion. I whimpered quietly, and a sobbing motion of pleasure coursed through my body.

Soon, he had opened me up wide, wide enough for what we were really both there for. When he pulled his hand out of my body the empty cold overwhelmed me, and I desperately tugged him into a kiss. He was tense with surprise, but then relaxed into it. I tasted him for a few seconds, but then pulled away. “Hurry up.” I demanded.

“What?” he mumbled, still dazed from the lack of oxygen from the prolonged kiss.

I squirmed under him, our naked skin brushing together. My entire body was lit up bright, flushed spots covering me. “Come on… Fuck me, John.”

He looked confused for a moment, but then grinned. He didn’t smile sweetly anymore, it was a playful grin. The foreplay was over. Fucking  _ finally _ .

He pushed me back into the mattress, the sudden force knocking the air out of me. I laughed in delight, but had to stop when I felt him wrap his hand around my erection. He stroked it slowly, just to tease me while putting on the condom and preparing more lube. It felt so nice, but I needed more.

Then, the world exploded.

I clutched the sheets under me for dear life, desperately trying to hold onto something. It felt like he stretched my body out, excavating me through each thrust into my body. His body was towering over me, a focused look on his face as he used all his muscle power to fuck my fucking brains out. I tried my best to stay quiet, I really did.

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck, John!” I exclaimed, gasping for air as all muscles in my body seemed to stop working at his mercy. “Oh dammit, John. Have you been working out just to fucking pound me into the grou-  _ Fuck! _ ” His quickened pace forced me to shut my mouth, though I kept on wailing out into the air from ecstatic pleasure. Nothing could stop that.  _ Except for maybe one of those gagballs…? _ My confused brain puzzled together before completely leaving the building for the force tearing through my body and mind.

Then a violent spasm shot through my body, and I yelled out in surprise. John slowed down for a moment with worried eyes, but started thrusting into me again when my yelp turned into loud moans and rambling of ecstasy. John had hit some very special spot inside of me, and my mind went completely blank as my dopamine high controlled all of me.

“J-John,” I whimpered. I couldn’t keep this up for too much longer now.

He locked eyes with me for a brief second, and then quickened his pace once again, his dark hair glued to his sweaty forehead and muscles shining as though smeared in oil.

“I...I…!” I gasped, digging my nails into his skin. “Fuck! Fuck! _ Fuck! Please! _ ” My body tensed up and…  _ JOHN! _ ” and as he pushed into my hot mess of a body one last time,  I came.

His body went limp and he collapsed on top of me, our hot bodies heaving unsynced with heavy breath. We lay there for a moment, trying to get control of our thoughts again, at least enough to move our bodies after the high. After a few minutes, John crawled up and placed a kiss on my lips, and I answered by grabbing him by the waist and pulling him closer, not wanting to let go.

 

As the two sweaty bodies lay entwined on the bed, I stood there gaping. My brain was too full of emotions, that I until this moment had thought to be contradictory, to even move to turn away from the display of affection and lust in front of me. The horror I felt was petrifying, but I also felt paralysingly turned on. My cluttered and confused mind had numbed me through the entire scene that had taken place in front of me, but now the overwhelming wave of cold panic washed over me again.

_ Jade. _

I turned to look at her, to look at my girlfriend, my girlfriend who had just witnessed me, her boyfriend, cheat on her with her brother.

The hand struck me before I had even turned completely to look at her. The searing pain blinded me for a moment, and my ears rang.  _ Damn. _

Before I had been able to completely process what had just happened (or what it meant), I was lying facedown on my stomach on the hard concrete floor of the meteor. Though my senses were still in shock after both the surprisingly powerful slap I had been struck by and the trip back into reality, I could hear tattering steps hurrying away from where I was lying beat in the dust.

_ Fuck. _


	5. Just

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To put it mildly, Dave has put himself in quite the pickle.
> 
> Content Warnings: mild NSFW, cheating, violence, death.

Fuck. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK_. This was not how it was supposed to go. This was not how it was all supposed to play out! I groaned out loud as I paced the winding corridors of the meteor. _This_ _fucking prison_. I could feel my lungs pressing hard at my throat, threatening to explode over my heart. I had to find her! This was _not_ what I wanted. I increased my pace. I would get what I wanted. I would fix all of this. I had to.

There was no way she wouldn’t forgive me. Jade was my girlfriend, my gentle, good-hearted girlfriend. No way would we end like this. I would just have to talk to her, smile at her and everything would be fine. I smiled through my puffing breath at the thought, never had she been able to hold a grudge. I told myself this over and over as I continued my hectic run towards the wing of the meteor labyrinth that held our personal rooms. Certainly she must have locked herself in her room, head hidden under a blanket, waiting for me to come comfort her.

“Ouff!”

I fell to the floor with a thud. In my hurry and daydreaming I had not watched where I was going, and had run face first into a large figure in the middle of the hallway. I gulped at the sight of the yellow shoes standing placed in front of me.

“Need a hand?” John smiled and reached down a helping hand in my direction.

With cold guilt, I grabbed it, and he pulled me up to my feet.

“Bro, where are you off to? Haven’t seen you running since, well...ever?” He lowered his voice at the end and shot me a smile.

I stood awkwardly in front of him. Meekly, I smiled back. This was the worst possible scenario. What was I supposed to tell him?  _ ‘Jade’s upset and I’m going to help her out.’  _ No that wouldn’t do, he would want to follow.  _ ‘My unfocused filth-mind threw me and your sister right into your bedroom while you were smashing me to hell and back.’ _  The situation really was hopeless.  _ Aw, fuck it all. _ I quickly made up my mind.

“Nuffin’, really…” I said, brushing off the grey asthma-inducing dust off my pants. “Just, you know, warming...up?”

He looked at me puzzled for a second, but then a coy smile creeped onto his face. He tugged me closer with a playful glint in his eye, so we stood close enough together to feel each other’s body heat radiating from our bodies. “Warming up for what?” His breath warmed up the skin of my throat, and his eyes were resting dazedly on my chest.

I breathed out a nervous laugh as his lips brushed against my neck, leaving ghost kisses all the way down to my collarbone.  _  Dammit. _ It hadn’t worked at all how I wanted it to. Or, well…

I let out a faint gasp as he tugged at the waistband of my pants, sliding his fingers in to caress my hips and sides. As the warm feeling of the closeness he - John, my very best friend - had to offer spread through my body, I melted to my very core. A few minutes couldn’t hurt, could it? Determined, I reached up to wrap my arms behind his neck, pulling him down into a deep kiss. The embrace and sudden affection took him by surprise, and a low moan escaped his mouth through his covered lips.

After a few seconds, I let go, dazed and flushed. We locked eyes. He was so unaware of the enormous breach I had just subjected our relationship to, our little secret. His brown eyes, staring back at me, so dark and warm, loving.

I pushed him away.

“John, I really have to go.”

“What?” he looked at me puzzled, frustrated.

“I….you know.” I paused for a moment, weighing my options. “I...Jade...she’s- I really have to get going.” I rambled, wanting nothing more than to come with John to his room.

A flash of hurt and disappointment flashed across his face for half a second, before he was able to compose himself and put on a poorly held pokerface.

“Yeah, sure. Of course. I get it,” he said, avoiding my gaze as he straightened his back.  _ It’s how it has to be, Dave. There’s no other option,  _ I told myself. “Meet you later?” he asked, once again piercing my eyes with his. It was a challenge, I knew it was. A challenge for me to make up my mind, to finally make my decision clear.

“Yeah.” I said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “See you tonight.” At that he smiled, and as I turned to walk away, he gave me a hearty slap on the ass. I jumped, but didn’t turn back to continue the game we both wanted to play. I hurt so bad when I walked off, away from him, down the corridor.

_ God, I loved him. _

 

Hurriedly, I continued down the maze-like hallways and staircases, pacing frantically. I opened door after door, and soon I started shouting Jade’s name in my desperation. I felt the panic starting to tug at my gut. How the fuck did I end up here? This little affair of mine had cost me enough, not only was it John’s fault that I was in this situation to begin with, but now he was also to blame for my delay in fixing his mistakes.

I stopped, bending over myself panting. Everything hurt, I  _ had  _ to find her soon.

“ _ Jaaaaade! _ ” I yelled, one last time.

“JAAAAADE!!!”

The loud shout came from behind of me. Startled, I swung around to see who was following me.

“Jade, Jade, Jade! Where is she, hm?” Karkat was standing a few metres away, his face scrunched up in irritation and his hands angrily placed on his hips. “ _ HAAARLEEEY _ ”, he yelled again, for good measure.

I threw him a defeated look. Really, did he have to delay me  _ too _ ? “What do you want, Karkat?” I asked.

He took a few steps closer to me, trying to intake an intimidating pose even though he was almost two heads shorter than me. “What do  _ I _ want? What do I  _ want! _ ” he snarled loudly. “I want you to shut the fuck up, is what I want!” He took the last step to basically put his face right under my nose. “You know what I have been doing for the past forever? I’ve been trying to fucking relax! R. E. L. A. X.! And it’s  _ really  _ fucking hard with you running around outside my room like a goddamn lunatic!”

I ignored his scolding, I really didn’t care if I was disturbing his beauty sleep or whatever it was he was trying to do. “You haven’t seen Jade, have you?”

His face didn’t move at first, still wrinkled up in annoyance. Then my question seemed to make itself a homey little place in his brain, and the corners of his mouth twitched, almost unnoticeably.

“Oh yeah, I saw her. I was wondering what had her so upset.” He drawled.

My pained face only egged him on. “Yeah she looked really upset, Strider. She didn’t discover your dirty little secret, did she?”

“...How did you-?”

“Oh, come on now! As if I don’t have my room just next to John’s!” Now his eyes were glowing with malice. Karkat had been trying to get to me ever since I had denied  _ my feelings _ for him. (My alleged feelings). He said I was in denial, that I just ‘didn’t understand troll romance’.

“Karkat…” I said, warningly. My desperation was beginning to get to me, I could feel its icy wave spreading from my stomach all the way to my tightly clenched fists.

He sighed. “Fine…she ran that way,” he pointed with his thumb to one of the passageways in front of us. “Seemed to be heading for the back of the meteor.”

As soon as I had registered what he had just said, I took off.

“You’re welcome, by the way!” he yelled after me.

I didn’t answer, and his angry grumbling became fainter and fainter as I ran towards the rear of this damned space rock that trapped us all together.

 

* * *

 

When I finally - after all the mishaps and distractions on my way - reach the hindmost point of the populated part of the meteor, everything is quiet. The dark rocks and ruins cast long shadows on the ground, obscuring every place my girlfriend could be huddling. I walk forwards with quick feet, throwing nervous glances around every corner.

At last, I see her petite silhouette standing with her back turned to me, grasping the railing of the concrete cliff we are both standing on. Her dark green dress is blowing in the wind from the meteor’s rushing progression.

I start to jog towards her. “Jade!” I yell, smiling. Finally! I will   _ finally _ be able to put all of this behind me. Behind us, I correct myself.

She slowly turns around, face lowered towards the ground, refusing to look me in the eye.

I slow down in front of her. “Oh thank fuck, I found you,” I puff. I wait for her response, for her to face me with teary eyes and a quivering lip, begging me to apologise and make everything good again. Then, I realise something is wrong. Her posture is tense, and her head hangs from her shoulders at an almost unnatural angle.

“...Jade?” I ask, placing a hand on her arm.

Suddenly, I am flung back, crashing hard into the rocky ground. For a moment, I can’t feel anything. Then, the pain hits me everywhere all at once. My head is pulsing, my ears ringing, and wet red spots are slowly forming on the legs of my pants.

“Don’t touch me,” she says, absently.

“Jade…” As I start to sit up again, my head is slammed back onto the ground once again.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams. Or roars, or shrieks, it is awfully hard to describe. It’s inhuman. I can’t recognise her voice at all, and in that moment, I am scared out of my life. I hear her closing in, the heels of her shoes clicking cold against the hard ground. I try to move, but I can’t lift a finger to save my life.

A shadow is cast over my body, and that is when I see her. That is when I see her face. She is towering over me, her face twisted into an disturbing mask. Her hair seems to have a life of its own, moving as if caught by a nonexistent storm. Her eyes are glowing, green pouring out of her sockets, and in them is  a fire fueled by what I can only guess is pure hatred.

I gulp.

“YOU DID THIS!!!” she shrieks, slamming my head against the concrete once more.

“Babe-”

Once more. And more. And more.

Suddenly, just as I think my body won’t be able to take anymore before flying off to summerland, my body turns warm. It’s a comforting feeling, I almost feel like dozing off as it fills me from top to toe. That is, until I realise I’m no longer lying bloodied on the ground.  My limp body is floating up into the void, broken and beaten, bleeding from all over. She is here too. Floating around me as well I see her, the fury still draping her form. In my confused state, it almost looks like her skin is covered in bolts of green lightning. Then, I realise it is, and they are moving. All the light exuding from her body is slowly making its way across her body to her hands, where it is collected into the ever growing orbs of pulsating energy that she is clutching in her still soft hands. Hand I know all too well. Even in my lifeless state, I feel the panic rising.

“Babe, please…” I slur, the taste of iron filling up my mouth.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” she screams, raising her arms to gather enough force to push my body back into the ground again. When I crash into the ground, I hear multiple loud cracks, and I realise I can’t feel my body anymore.

I lay there, still, soaked in my own blood.

“Don’t call me that!” she shouts, and the energy is once again gathering in the palms of her hands.

“Ba- Jade…I’m so sorry-” With my words, I see the green lights fading back into her skin slightly. Desperately, I continue. “I never meant to hurt you. It wasn’t my idea, it really wasn’t! It was all John!”

She looks down at me, and her face is impossible to read.

“Really...I’m not the one to blame! John is! And you too! You left me frustrated, never gave me what I wanted! It’s been two years, babe!” She takes a step back, her face relaxing. Thankful, and getting more furious by the second from my unfair treatment from her, I keep my dialogue going. “You had it coming!”

For a few seconds, everything is quiet. The echo of my last sentence hanging in the air. Then, everything explodes.

Her furious shriek shakes the ground, and the air seems to be vibrating with it. She stomps on my chest, breaking my ribs, and stomps down again to increase her momentum. The last thing I see is the sparkling green energy from her hands entering my body, and the last thing I feel is my teeth burying down into my tongue, and a drop of salt water making its way down my cheek.

A clock chimes, and everything turns black.

**JUST.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap, folks! I really enjoyed writing this! It was my first ever piece of fanfiction, and basically my first ever finished fiction text as well! I hope this helped me improve my writing and creativity (and fanfic writing for that matter, it's surprisingly hard!), and I'm stoked as fuck to get my lazy, procrastinating ass to write some more soon...  
> Thanks for reading everyone!


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